From collecting Arctic microfiber samples at seven to climbing Kilimanjaro as teenagers, the Young Explorers have grown up travelling with their families and sharing what they discover with other children.
Follow the journeys through fieldwork, family travel and climbing, from the 2018 North Pole expedition to plans for Antarctica.
The youngest scientific expedition to the North Pole collected microfiber samples and connected Arctic climate science with classrooms. It grew directly from the Explorers Club’s Young Explorers Program.
Working with local partners and Indigenous communities on reforestation and GPS mapping of plant and wildlife habitats.
Learning to dive opened a new world of exploration. The young divers moved from training in Mexico to reefs, marine conservation and encounters with sea turtles, whale sharks, mobula rays, sea lions, sharks and whales across the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean.
What began with a one-way family trip during the pandemic became three years of return journeys. In Talkeetna, the children discovered how aviation connects remote communities and mountain country. Around Fairbanks came gold panning, hot springs, old aircraft and practical Alaskan ingenuity; further journeys revealed the Arctic coast and the green, island-filled Pacific side.
Three Explorers Club families joined the KI Initiative for a seven-day climb on the Rongai Route, reaching the summit on 26 August 2024.
A sunrise climb by the Subashiri route: a new stage in the family’s mountaineering journey and a lesson in pacing, preparation and teamwork.
The story now turns south. Planning is underway for an expedition that will connect polar history, a rapidly changing environment and the next generation of explorers.
Scuba diving turned the ocean from something seen from shore into a living environment to explore, understand and protect.
The journey began with learning to dive in Xcalak, Mexico, alongside sea-turtle monitoring and protection. Later travels brought reefs and clownfish in Taiwan, whale sharks, mobula rays and sea lions in Baja, the Galápagos, bull sharks in Cuba, sperm whales in Dominica, and diving in Zanzibar after Kilimanjaro. Ocean plastics, reef health and the effects of human activity are part of the story too.
The Subashiri ascent marks the latest chapter in a progression that began with Arctic fieldwork and developed through high-altitude trekking in the Andes and on Kilimanjaro.
Read the full Mount Fuji story →
At the North Pole, the children collected microfiber samples. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, they helped map plant and wildlife habitats with GPS. Taking part gave them questions they could investigate for themselves.
The Arctic fieldwork →Reforestation in Ecuador and sea-turtle work in Mexico brought the children alongside people caring for those places. Their role was to listen, learn and help with the work at hand.
The Amazon journey →The North Pole story reached pupils at PS157 in the Bronx through Reach the World, and later appeared in Scholastic News. Teachers can find the presentations and worksheets on our Education page.
Resources for schools →The Young Explorers Program brought children and families together at the Explorers Club to meet explorers and take part in activities. The 2018 North Pole expedition grew out of those meetings. Later journeys took the families to the Amazon, East Africa and the mountains of Peru and Japan.
Earlier journeys also include ocean work in Mexico, Taiwan, Cuba, Dominica and the Galápagos, as well as travel and service in Ethiopia and Kenya.